marketing research notes_sankhe

7/30/2019 Marketing Research Notes_Sankhe

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Marketing Research

Q.1. What is Marketing Research. What is the scope for Marketing Research.

Marketing Research is the function that links the consumer, customer and public to themarketer through information-information used to identify and define marketing opportunities

and problems, generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing

performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process.

Marketing Research is a well-planned, systematic process which implies that it needsplanning at all the stages. It uses scientific method. It is an objective process as it attempts to

provide accurate authentic information.

Marketing Research plays a very significant role in identifying the needs of customersand meeting them in best possible way. The main task of Marketing Research is

systematic gathering and analysis of information.

Marketing Research is essential for strategic market planning and decision making. Ithelps a firm in identifying what are the market opportunities and constraints, in

developing and implementing market strategies, and in evaluating the effectiveness of

marketing plans.

Marketing Research is a growing and widely used business activity as the sellers needto know more about their final consumers but are generally widely separated from

those consumers. Marketing Research is a necessary link between marketing decision

makers and the markets in which they operate.

Marketing Research includes various important principles for generating information

which is useful to managers. These principles relate to the timeliness and importanceof data, the significance of defining objectives cautiously and clearly, and the need to

avoid conducting research to support decisions already made.


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Scope of MR:

Product Research

Product means the goods and services which are sold to the consumers. It includes consumerproducts and industrial products. Product research studies the individual product. It studies

the making and marketing of the product. It studies the colour, size, shape, quality,

packaging, brand name and price of the product. It also deals with product modification,

product innovation, product life cycle, etc. The product is modified (changed) as per the

needs and wants of the consumers. Therefore, the product will not fail in the market.

2. Consumer Research

Consumer is the person who purchases the goods and services. The consumer is the king in

the market. Consumer research studies consumer behaviour. It studies the consumers needs,

wants, likes, dislikes, attitude, age, sex, income, location; buying motives, etc. This data is

used to take decisions about the product, its price, place and promotion.

3. Packaging Research

Packaging research is a part of product research. It studies the package of the product. It

improves the quality of the package. It makes the package more attractive. It makes the


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package more convenient for the consumers. It reduces the cost of packaging. It selects a

suitable method for packaging. It also selects suitable packaging material.

4. Pricing Research

Pricing Research studies the pricing of the product. It selects a suitable method of pricing. It

fixes the price for the product. It compares the companies price with the competitor's price. It

also fixes the discount and commission which are given to middlemen. It studies the market

price trends. It also studies the future price trends.

5. Advertising Research

Advertising research studies the advertising of the product. It fixes the advertising objectives.

It also fixes the advertising budget. It decides about the advertising message, layout, copy,

slogan, headline, etc. It selects a suitable media for advertising. It also evaluates the

effectiveness of advertising and other sales promotion techniques.

6. Sales Research

Sales research studies the selling activities of the company. It studies the sales outlets, sales

territories, sales forecasting, sales trends, sales methods, effectiveness of the sales force, etc.

7. Distribution Research

Distribution research studies the channels of distribution. It selects a suitable channel for the

product. It fixes the channel objectives. It identifies the channel functions like storage,

grading, etc. It evaluates the competitor's channel.

8. Policy Research

Policy research studies the company's policies. It evaluates the effectiveness of the marketing

policies, sales policies, distribution policies, pricing policies, inventory policies, etc.

Necessary changes, if any, are made in these policies.

9. International Marketing Research
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International marketing research studies the foreign market. It collects data about consumers

from foreign countries. It collects data about the economic and political situation of different

countries. It also collects data about the foreign competitors. This data is very useful for the

exporters

10. Motivation Research

Motivation research studies consumers' buying motives. It studies those factors that motivate

consumers to buy a product. It mainly finds out, Why the consumers buy the product? It also

finds out the causes of consumer behaviour in the market.

11. Market Research

Market research studies the markets, market competition, market trends, etc. It also does salesforecasting. It estimates the demand for new products. It fixes the sales territories and sales

quotas.

12. Media Research

Media research studies various advertising media. The different advertising media are

television (TV), radio, newspapers, magazines, the internet, etc. Media research studies the

merits and demerits of each media. It selects a suitable media for advertising. It does mediaplanning. It also studies media cost. It helps in sales promotion and to avoid wastage in

advertising.

Q.2 Why Marketing Research?

There may be many reasons for carrying out market research.

It may be carried out find out

the likes and dislikes of the customers,

appropriate price for the product,

how many people might buy the product.

finding the profile of the customers,

the places they buy

about competitors and;

the promotion techniques which might be most effective.
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(Additional information)

To Make Marketing Decisions: This research helps the marketers to make a decision about

the product or service. Sometimes a marketer might believe that the new product or service is

useful for the customers. However, research may show that customers do not need a product

or are meeting their needs with a certain competitor product and so on. Similarly goodresearch strives to provide options for the successful introduction of new products and

services. This makes the market entry of a new product or service less risky.

Survive the Competition: Marketing research helps in ascertaining and understanding

competitor information such as their identity, marketing network, customer focus and scale of

operations. This helps in surviving and in certain cases, even leaving behind the competition.

Moreover, with market research you can also help understand the under-served consumer

segments and consumer needs that have not been met.

Helps to Decide Target Markets: Research helps provide customer information in terms oftheir location, age, buying behavior and gender. This helps the marketers zero in on the target

markets and customers for their products and services.

Maximize Profits: Apart from profit maximizing steps such as item optimization, customer

profitability analysis, and price elasticity, marketing research allows you to find out methods

that can help you maximize profits. For example, a product's price elasticity research can help

you ascertain the impact of an increased price on the sales and the profits of a product. This

emphasis on profitability also helps the company's focus to shift from maximizing sales to

increasing the profits of a company. This helps the company survive in the long run and

maximize its profits.

Increasing the Sales: Increasing the sales of your products or services helps a company in

maximizing its profits. By understanding the customer's needs, wants and attitude towards the

products and determining whether your products fit the bill, marketers can increase their

sales. This helps in not only increasing the sales to the target customers and people already

using the product but also converting the non users into customers for the product.

With an understanding of the customer, competitors, products and the overall industry needs,

this research can equip the management with the power to make better decisions. However,

the importance of marketing research is limited to just being a marketing tool that helps you

make an informed decision. So rather than basing all your management decisions on a

customer survey, use this tool as a guide and supplement it with intelligent decision making.

Q.3. What are the types of Marketing Research.

EXPLORATORY RESEARCH is used when one is seeking insights into the general nature

of a problem, the possible decision alternatives, and relevant variables that need to be

considered. Typically, there is little prior knowledge on which to build the research methods

which are highly flexible, unstructured and qualitative. Exploratory research is also useful for

establishing priorities among research questions and for learning about practical problems of

carrying out the research. Studies may involve reviewing published data, interviewing people,

conducting89 focus groups, investigating literature. This type of research can be applied toany problem for which little is known. The output of an exploratory study will not be


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answered but more specific questions or statements of tentative relationships will be

addressed. A survey of literature and analysis of selected cases can also be used to advantage

in exploratory research.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH is usually exploratory and diagnostic, then the research

designed primarily for exploratory purposes, such as getting oriented to the range andcomplexity of consumer activity, clarifying the problem and identifying likely

methodological problems. Examples are individual or group interviews, case studies,

projective techniques

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH embraces a large proportion of MR. The purpose is to

provide an accurate picture of some aspects of marketing environment. In descriptive

research hypotheses often will exist, but they may be tentative and speculative. In general, the

relationships studied will not be causal in nature. However, they may still have utility in

prediction. They generally employ a structured questionnaire and the emphasis is on

generating an accurate picture of relationships between and among variables. Descriptive

studies typically rely heavily on crosstabulation analysis or other means of investigating theassociation among variables, such as Regression Analysis. The great majority of Descriptive

studies are crosssectional, although some use longitudnal information

CAUSAL RESEARCHWhen t is necessary to show that one variable causes or determines

thevalues of other variables, a causal research approach must be used. Evidence of a

relationship or an association among the variables is useful; otherwise, we would have no

basis for even inferring that causality might be present. To go beyond this inference we must

have reasonable proof that one variable preceded the other and that there were no other causal

factor that could have accounted for the relationship. Because the requirements for proof of

causality are so demanding, the research question and relevant hypotheses are very specific.

Q.4. What are the steps in Marketing Research

1. Problem Definition: The problem is the focus of your research. Example: Why are salessoaring in the mid-west, but dismal in other parts of the country?

2. Data Collection Method and Needs: How will you collect the data that you will needto solve the problem? Will you use surveys, telephone calls or focus groups on the

internet?

3. Determine Sample Method: What sampling method will you use? Sampling representsthose you will collect information from. Will it be a random sampling, a sampling thatcontains a similar element or a natural sampling?

4. Data Analysis: How will you analyse the data? Will you use software or do it by hand?How accurate do the results need to be?

5. Determine Budget and Timeframe: How much are you willing to spend on theresearch and how soon must the research be complete?

6. Data Collection: Proceed in data collection based on answers in Steps 1- 5.

7. Analysis of the Data: Conduct the analysis of the data that has been collected inprevious Step.


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8. Error Check: Check for errors in data. It is not uncommon for errors to be found in datacollected. Errors can be in the sampling method, data collections as well as just

analytical mistakes.

9. Create Your Report: The final step of marketing research is to draft a report on your

findings. Your report should contain tables, charts, and or diagrams. It's important thatyour report clearly communicate the results that you found in your research. Your

findings should lead to a solution to the problem you identified in Step 1.

Q.5 Tools of Marketing Research

Square in notes quantitative and qualitative

http://www.powerdecisions.com/quantitative-market-research.cfm#.UWwcCKKnB20

ype 2: Quantitat iveMarket Surveys

Telephone Surveys

Random probability samples can be generated from firms

such as Survey Sampling, Inc. (SSI)

Best for mostly close-end questioning, when dimensions

and ranges of issues are known.

Success depends highly on filtering sample to those

consumer or business users who find topic or category

relevant.

10-12 average interview length is maximum target unless

highly specialized population or incentives paid.

Optimum use is for top-of-

and brand comparisons, a

Response rate is critical, e

privacy issues and phone

and business executives al

necessary ensure sample isampling frame.

Low relative cost.

Generally, fast implementa

Skilled marketing research

information than a self-ad

unmoderated online)

Personal InterviewsandCentral Location Interviews

Random probability sample -OR- convenience sample,

depending upon design. (Central location usually use a

convenience sample, i.e. mall traffic)

Used where a face-to-face environment is desired.

In B2B research, personal interviews may be done by

appointment where interviewer goes to respondent's

office.

Some special consumer studies may be done in-home by

appointment.

High cost.

Can provide good hybrid m

qualitative and quantitative

type questions first, followe

questions and projective te

Skilled interviewer can extr

self-administered method (
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Often respondents are recruited to come to a central

location, or recruited from mall traffic to a nearby office to

conduct interview.

Used for complicated or sensitive issues, B2B

environments, or where extensive physical or visualdisplay requirements exist along with need for specialized

interviewing skills (depth probing, time for evaluation and

reaction.)

Online Surveys(Web Surveys)

Can employ true random probability sampling

Complicated survey questionnaire formats can be used.

For example, piping, rating, rankings, constant sum

questions, etc.

Easy to display visual information previously available only

in a face-to-face interview format. (advertising copy,

concept statements, projective stimuli, etc.)

Allows deployment of complicated respondent tasks. (card

sorts, conjoint ratings, etc.)

Low relative cost

Generally, fast implementa

Sampling control is critical.

Large pre-recruited panels

respondents, although sa

carefully assessed.

Hybrid Survey Methods

Hybrid methods combine two or more techniques to

optimize response or measurement validity.

Examples:

Mail or phone invitation to online surveys.

"Online surveyswith phone follow-up to permit

depth probing of key market research questions by

expert interviewer.

Quantitative surveys from which participants are

selected based on their answers for a follow-up

qualitative phase (focus group, depth)

Panel recruited from a one-time quantitative

survey. (seemarket research panels details.)

Q.6. Scales and Research Design and their uses

Likert Scale

Semantic Differential scale
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